There is a big swing these days by artists to produce limited edition prints of their artwork, this popularity is part due to the giclee process where it is no longer necessary to print the entire run in one go, a very costly venture. The ability to produce print runs from 1 to 1000 has opened up the market for small self publishing artists like myself, no longer the domain of well known established artists or large publishing houses. However the option for artists to produce their own prints can mean a lot of hard work, and outlay, you need to mount work , perhaps frame it , not to mention do the leg work to get it into galleries. Then there is still no guarantee it will sell, but there are many things you can do to help even up the odds in your favour.

So imagine you've just had your work printed as we discussed in the previous article (Going to print) now what do you do with it

Lets look at what a Limited Edition is to begin with, by limiting the number of prints produced from your artwork you are inferring there is a certain amount of exclusivity to the print, and therefore a certain amount of added value attached to it as a thing of a certain rarity. Obviously the lower the edition the more exclusive and therefore higher value may be attached to it, there can be only one original work but print runs may vary from 2 - 1000. Knowing where to place your edition can be quite daunting and knowing what market you are aiming at is very important. If you were aiming at the high end collectible market and you were a well known and established artist, high quality giclee prints in a  low edition , say 50 or below with a certificate would be the way to go. The price of which would depend greatly on how sought after the artist work is as well as the edition size , but prices as high as £500 are quite common for a top quality print.

First editions and lower edition numbers are also deemed to be more valuable and sought after, the reason being earlier printing processes involved plates from which the print was made, as this is a mechanical process the plates would wear producing a finite number of prints before they were too worn , the first off the press therefore being the best quality. Strangely this tradition has carried over to the giclee process, even though there is no contact with the paper surface and no degradation of the digital file , also most printers will be using custom profiles and colour management  systems to ensure the first print is identical to the last .

At the other end of the scale if your aiming at the lower end of the market and are not so well known or sought after, a higher edition number sold at a lower price would be a good way to go as many people will likely buy it because they simply like the image rather than attaching any significant value or investment to it. This can also get you better exposure because if the image is a popular one it will have a wider audience as more are sold, which in turn gets you better known as an artist, the better known you are the more likely you are to get more for your prints and then be able to produce better quality lower editions as your career develops.

that's one way to view the market, there is an expression which I hear time and time again in art circles "if it doesn't sell put the price up". And its a practice which sadly is quite prevail ant, there is this strange idea that if something is expensive it must be good, there are sadly many galleries, individuals and publishing houses which use this approach to great effect, creating a demand for a product from pure hype. However without any real substance behind the art or artist this can just as easily go the other way, which if you've paid hundreds for a print and it loses all value can be a little bit painful.

So be realistic about your aims, a good edition size to begin with I would say is anything from 195 - 395 anything over this number   with the giclee process is a bit excessive. prices for an A3 print  can be anything from £40 - £80 again it does greatly depend on how sought after the artists work is, look in the galleries, ask friends, people who have perhaps already bought original work from you. but remember that you need to factor in the costs of the print, mounting or framing and also the gallery commission , which can be up to 45%. all this has to be taken out before you reach any profit. This is why I produce everything myself from printing the work to mounting and framing it, but with this there are large set up costs and time to consider, certainly not for the faint hearted, but it does allow me to price my work very competitively and to produce a print which is much higher quality than the price would suggest. As I do this for a living I can justify the expenditure, but if doing it all for yourself is too much , a little bit of shopping around can lower your costs quite dramatically, also keeping within standard frame sizes can make a big difference as ready made mounts and frames will always be cheaper that one off bespoke sizes